by Tao Wong
“Lily.” Lu snorts. “You really do like your white friends.”
“First, Lily’s a jinn. She’s not white or brown or… whatever. Secondly, you’re an ass,” I said, glaring at him. “Lastly, I do like my friends.” Turning on my heels, I walked to the door and nodded to Alexa. “Let’s go.”
I saw Kim try to say something, but I was incensed enough that I didn’t stop. There was no point in talking to them anyway. I’d met enough racist asses on both ends of the spectrum. Some, having been beaten down enough, decided to play the victim card unceasingly. It was always worse when they hung out with their own, staying with others who shared their background, race, and views. Never trying to see a different viewpoint, never traveling. That process of creating silos created echo chambers of beliefs, reinforcing their belief that their hurt, their pain was more important than any others’. And it was true enough that we all justified our pain and playing the victim. But at a certain point, you just had to keep moving.
We only spoke once we were a distance away in the car. And more to focus on something else, something worth talking about.
“They know about Lily,” I said. “They know people are coming after us.”
“Picked that up. Sounds like it’s not just one group, if they’ve picked that up too,” Alexa said, her frown creasing. “I wonder how many.”
“I don’t know. But I think we know someone who might. And might be willing to tell us.”
“You don’t mean…”
“I do.”
“You…” Alexa huffed then muttered something under her breath. Still, she took the next turn, heading away from the house.
At least we’d confirmed—at least we thought we had—that Shane had been alive when he left the Scarves. If the names of those after us were being bandied around so much, we might have another clue.
Chapter 7
Nora’s hadn’t changed. Even if I hadn’t been back in a few months, the clothing store was the same. To mundane eyes, the used clothing store was filled with cheap, well-kept clothing brought there by thrifty individuals, dumpster divers, and locker clearers like I had been. The only incongruity were the wooden cupboards lining the walls, cupboards that were rarely opened when non-magical individuals were around. Simple “ignore me” wards along the cupboards ensured that no one paid attention to them. Of course, the wards were so low-powered that any supernatural and a few Gifted individuals would automatically ignore the spells. But that too was by design.
After all, El had to find customers for her real business somewhere. As the foremost material merchant in the city, El was both a great salesperson and collector. And while it was mostly Mages who made use of her services, she did dabble in other enchanted objects too. Or knew who would sell or trade them. Which meant she had a ton of connections throughout the city.
“El!” I waved to her after walking in, wrinkling my nose slightly as I noticed the incense. I let my eyes unfocus for a second to see what kind of glamour the pixie was using. The old matronly woman that I’d known before flashed into focus, along with her humdrum pink-and-green flowery dress, a piece of clothing that could have been taken right off her racks. Then I let my Mage Sight reassert itself and the redhead, pointed-long-eared pixie came into focus. “Got a moment?”
“Just doing inventory,” El said, wrinkling her nose in such an adorable look that I wanted to say aww. “Stupid business is doing better.”
“Huh?”
“The clothing business. I think there’s going to be a recession again,” El said, shaking her head. “Every time, we get more customers here before a recession. Means I go through inventory faster and have to buy more too. I need to hire again.”
Drawn into the conversation, I went over to the counter where she was sorting clothes and leaned against it. “So do you hire supes because of your other business?”
“Of course. But you’d be surprised how hard it is to hire properly. Anyone with any ambition is always snapped up by others. Even if you find someone good, in a few years, they’re gone. Either for a better job or… well.”
Knowing El as I did, a lot of her hires probably came from the bad side of the tracks—orcs, goblins, and others who weren’t trendy enough to be considered a “dark race” but who still suffered the consequences of not being passable as a human. Stuck living on the edges, many of them found legal work difficult, and so ended up dabbling in illegal or supernatural work. Neither of which was safe.
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Forget sorry. Want a job?” she asked.
“No.”
“Bah. Ever since you got your magic, you’ve gotten all kinds of posh.” El sniffed, teasing me. She looked at Alexa, raising one elegant eyebrow at the blonde.
“No, thank you. I’m not very good at…” Alexa hunted for the right word.
“Fashion?” I added helpfully before yelping as she kicked me.
“Why are you here?” El said, turning the conversation back.
“Ah. Ummm… have you heard about Shane?” I said, lowering my voice.
When El indicated she hadn’t, I winced and told her the story. In the silence that flowed through the store afterward, a pair of shoppers came in, chatting merrily as they browsed through the women’s racks.
I eyed the girls, teenagers who had no clue what we had been speaking about, and dropped my voice a little. “Anyway. I was hoping you’d heard of people going after me.”
“After you?” El shook her head. “There’s been talk of your levels and Lily, but no one mentioned an attack. I’d have told you otherwise.”
“Yeah… think you could look into it?” I offered her a smile, mocking myself as I did so. “We’re out of leads right now. At least till someone tells us what’s going on. But I’m not a fan of being a mushroom, you know?”
El nodded then straightened. “Oh hell. I got to deal with them.”
Stomping off, the little pixie headed toward the pair of shoppers who’d gone extremely quiet. I cocked my head to the side, only to have my arm grabbed and myself pulled away.
“What?”
“Shoplifters.”
“Oh.” I sighed and let El deal with them.
Outside, Alex and I stared at one another, debating what next to do. It wasn’t as if I had a clue.
As my stomach rumbled and the evening light slowly darkened, I sighed. “Let’s go eat.”
***
One of the advantages of visiting El was that we managed to swing by my favorite Greek restaurant, a place where they served both quantity and quality. The lamb shoulder was fall-off-the-bone succulent, and the rice was cooked just right, herbed and soaked in butter and the lamb juices by the time we made it home. I might have splurged, picking up both calamari and moussaka to share with Lily, along with her own dish of lamb. Alexa got a large Greek salad which she’d eat before stealing much more delicious food from the two of us. What could I say? We’d corrupted the woman.
Dinner was good, if subdued. As much as I liked to think I’d gotten people wanting me dead, having them actually act on it was another thing entirely. I’d mostly been putting the danger out of mind, figuring I’d seriously think about it when I hit Level 80 or so before. But it could be that my continued progression had triggered concerns about exactly how powerful I would be at Level 100.
I was packing up the leftovers when I asked the question that had been on all our minds. “What now?”
There was a deep and uncomfortable silence that stretched and stretched. No one had anything to offer. Should we just go back to normal? Should we keep knocking on doors, hoping something will give? Should I ask Caleb, our only source into our guardians, and hope he’d deign to tell us something?
“Well, we could…” Alexa opened her mouth, then seemed to change her mind. “I could ask my friends? In the Order.”
“Are they still talking to you?” I said, eyebrow rising.
“A few, but they’re not r
eally connected to this. Most are, well, most are still training…”
Right, that made sense. Her friends would be Initiates like her, people she might have grown up with. Which meant they’d probably not know much, if anything.
“No. Not yet. I mean, they’re unlikely to know anything, right?” Alexa nodded. “Let’s table that for now. I’ll bug Caleb tomorrow…”
I paused, a sense of pressure coming from the door. I was alerted before the door was knocked upon, the individual behind it so strong that his aura was like a physical thing.
When I looked at Lily, she smiled. “Don’t worry. Well out of your Level.”
I couldn’t help but nod in gratitude. If she hadn’t been smart enough to block off individuals of power from interacting with me directly, I’d have lost the ring—or my life—a long time ago. Even so, people had been finding ways around the entire thing, especially lately.
When I opened the door, staring back at me was a trio, each of which were as powerful, if not more so, than Caleb. The first was a small woman with greying, long brown hair, a flowery dress covering a bony body. She absently picked at the fraying edges of her dress’s long sleeves when I opened the door, ignoring me entirely. She could be someone’s mother, if not for my magic senses.
On the other hand, the big man standing at the forefront—presumably the one who had knocked on the door—could have just walked off a lumberyard. Red and black plaid shirt, big bushy beard, and thick, steel-toed shoes completed the ensemble as he glowered at me from nearly a foot over my head. I had to admit, I stepped back just from the suffocating physical presence he exuded.
As the last member of the trio, the Native American man looked the most normal. Clad in a simple shirt and jean ensemble, he had a green windbreaker over his torso and hands stuck in his pockets. But as an indicator of his strength, the glow of the fetish around his neck was powerful enough to make me dial down my sensitivity. It was kind of like looking at a Third Circle Mage’s staff in action. Just a little too much for a casual evening.
“Mr. Tsien, may we come in?” the man in front spoke, not giving me more time to review the group.
“Uhhh… who are you?” Not that I couldn’t guess, not with all the hints, but always good to ask.
“I am Druid Osian Carr. This is Witch Milli Cook and Doctor Chunta David. We’re part of a group of concerned individuals,” Osian said.
“Doctor?” I frowned, looking at Chunta.
“Medical. I prefer to go by that,” Chunta clarified.
Well, I would too if I’d spent half a million dollars for an education. Then again, he was old enough that maybe he’d had it cheaper. If not easier.
“Yeah, I guess.” I stepped back and waved them in while Lily moved her computers out of the way.
As each of them passed through my wards, they set off a small light display, their sheer presence affecting my wards and straining them. My wards weren’t badly made—they weren’t great, but they weren’t horrendous—but each of the visitors was the magical equivalent of a nuke. The sheer amount of energy they output, just by being, was enough to make my wards react.
“This is the jinn, is it?” Milli said as she walked into the living room, staring at Lily.
While the others might be taking in the room or our notes or Alexa casually leaning against the wall and her spear, Milli was solely focused on Lily. She stared at Lily with an intensity that she had not showcased before and was unconsciously stirring the ambient Mana and spiritual realms. I saw how my wards reacted as the spirits and ghosts the Witch, and probably seer, interacted with rose to do her unconscious bidding and were blocked.
“Yes.” Lily tilted her head.
Suddenly, the light show around my wards stopped. The wards themselves were protected as Lily sent the spirits and ghosts running away. There was no ripple of power, no magical warning. She just looked and they ran.
“You’re the one, aren’t you?” Milli said, nodding then walking over to the most comfortable seat in the house—mine—and flopping down. “Do we get tea? I like tea. But none of that flowery stuff. Real tea.”
I was a bit whipsawed by the change as both of the other extremely powerful personages took seats on my lounge, giving me drink orders. Rather than fight it, I got out the cookies, Cheetos, and other snacks from our last gaming day and drinks. Chunta was a cola drinker, while Osian had a beer. He wrinkled his nose a bit at the beer we handed him, muttering something about worse than water, but I was more than content to ignore him. As if I could have afforded craft beer.
“So. What are the three founding members of the Pagan Circle doing in my living room?” I said when I was finally seated.
“Just two,” Milli said, offering me a half-smile. “I was a late comer.”
“Right, right. But—”
“We’d like to speak with you. And your jinn,” Osian said, leaning forward and taking our attention with that small movement. “The attack on you was well coordinated. The follow-up nearly took us by surprise as well.”
“Follow-up?” I squeaked.
“Yes. Another group tried to sneak close to your residence while we were paying attention to the initial attack. Luckily, Milli learnt of the matter and the suborned pair of Mages,” Osian said, shaking his head. “We managed to deal with the matter, but it seems your enemies have grown more persistent.”
“Must have been quiet,” I said softly. “I never even noticed.”
“A simple isolation spell.” Except there was nothing simple about a spell that could conceal the equivalent of a magic battle right outside my door, no matter what Osian said. Even if it was possible, there was nothing simple about it. “But that—or our losses—was not what we came to talk to you about.”
“Then what is?” I said, tilting my head.
“We are here to talk about your future,” Osian said. “We assumed that when you … Level up, you would be independent. A free agent. You’ve shown, in the past, disdain toward authority and organizations. But recently, you and the Mage Council have been flouting your relationship.”
I frowned. “Caleb’s teaching me.”
“And your upcoming graduation,” Osian added. “Do you intend to join them?”
“I… well…” I leaned back, my mind spinning. Pieces that I hadn’t really put into place found their place and I exhaled, swearing. “Of course. You all think I’m going to join them and give them Lily’s ring.”
“On your death, yes. Or worse, lend the jinn’s magical knowledge to them.” Osian took a sip of the beer and made a face, putting it down. “That’s not a good thing, especially for us.”
“Especially for you?”
“We”—a hand waved toward the three of them, but I knew it really meant their group—“are representatives of a group, a series of teachings that don’t fit with your Mage Council. They might not think we’re evil, but—”
“But they’re the bigger organization and eventually they’ll stamp you out?” I kind of knew what he was talking about. Caleb had a tendency to be arrogant, and the rest of his people were even worse. Much worse. “You’re worried they’ll keep drawing others away, draining you of your people? Eventually killing your traditions?”
“If I was teaching them, that’d be the best,” Lily said, shaking her head. “Your magics, all of it, are so damn inefficient.”
“Lily—”
“No. Let the jinn speak,” Chunta said, fixing Lily with his gaze. “Let her tell us how we are failing.”
“It’s not a matter of failing. It’s the fact that you are not very good at what you're doing,” said Lily. “Oh, you might have picked up a few new tricks and maybe even made some progress, but the way you handle power is so inefficient. Your ancestors were doing better two hundred years ago.”
“Are you blaming us for losing some of our knowledge?” Chunta growled.
“Blaming? Did I ever say blame? No. I just said you guys have lost much of the magic y
ou had and are busy recreating it.” Lily pointed at each of the three. “All of you have so much power, you set off Henry’s sloppy wards.”
“Hey!”
“And it’s not even a case of you throwing your weight around. None of you can actually control your auras.” Lily sniffed disparagingly. “All of you, from Mages to Druids, you’re so busy fighting over whose magic is better, whose magic is more correct or more traditional, that you ignore what’s best. Mer, Yup’ik, Solomon, none of them would ever have been so sloppy. Magic is about will and training. It’s about formula, vision, and practice. And all of you guys, you keep thinking that your way is the best. But the best, the smartest, the most powerful—they stole and used and adjusted from every tradition.
“So, yeah. If I was teaching them, the Mage Council would steal your ‘people’ and they’d be best. Because I’d teach them how to do real magic, not the party tricks you’re so proud of.”
“I told you. She’s a demon,” Chunta said, leaning back, his earlier anger gone as he looked at his friends. For a man who had angered and set off Lily’s rant, he seemed entirely unconcerned about her. “She cares nothing for our people or our traditions. It is best that she is destroyed.”
“I do not agree,” Osian said, shaking his head. “While she might be blunt, she’s correct that we all have lost much knowledge. If she—if Henry—is willing to teach us some of our old magic—”
“Bah, the boy has already been corrupted by her and the Council,” Chunta said. “Too much danger. Let them die.”
“Hey!” I said, rapping my fingers on the table. “We’re right here, you know.”
“Deciding their fate was not what we were charged with by the Circle. We are here to investigate,” Osian continued to speak to Chunta, ignoring me.
In her seat, sipping on her cup of steaming tea and seeming above it all, Milli stayed silent as the boys argued.
“I said, I’m right here,” I said, rapping the table harder. “So why don’t you guys try talking to me rather than making guesses?”